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Banana Whoopie Pies

Banana Whoopie Pie
The next time you have overripe bananas in your kitchen, don’t make a banana bread. Instead, make some Banana Whoopie Pies. The classic whoopie pie is a chocolate cookie with a vanilla filling. This is a great combination in many types of desserts, but there is something about the soft, cake-like outer cookie and the creamy filling that make whoopie pies almost irresistible. This banana version is even better.

Soft, banana bread-like cookies are the base of these whoopie pies. The batter is somewhere between the thickness of banana bread batter and cookie dough, which lets the whoopie pies hold their shape well during baking, but spread out enough to make a good-sized sandwich. The cake is tender and very moist, with just a little bit of cinnamon and vanilla to highlight the flavor of the banana – which comes through very clearly. I used a cream cheese filling to sandwich the pies together. The cream cheese goes very well with the banana, and adds a little bit of tanginess that contrasts with the sweetness of the cake.

This recipe doesn’t make a huge batch of whoopie pies, but the pies are generously sized. You can easily double the recipe to make more, or scale down the size of your pies (and reduce the baking time by a couple of minutes) to get smaller, bite-sized pies and get more of them. These keep well when stored in an airtight container at room temperature, but they are so moist and flavorful that I bet you’ll find them as difficult to resist as I do.

Banana Whoopie Pies
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups mashed banana (2 medium)

Preheat oven 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vegetable oil, followed by vanilla and mashed banana. Add flour mixture and stir until just incorporated.
Drop 2 tablespoon balls (approx 1 1/2-inch balls) and bake for 12-14 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges and “set” in the center.
Remove to a wire rack to cool.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies (1 dozen sandwich cookies).

Cream Cheese Filling
3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 – 2 cups confectioners sugar

In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Blend in vanilla and confectioners’ sugar until mixture is smooth and thick. Add additional confectioners’ sugar if mixture seems runny.

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23 Comments
  • Lisa@ButteryBooks
    February 18, 2011

    Banana and cream are the perfect combination. These would be cute to serve at my son’s birthday…he is a banana fanatic.

  • Lucie
    February 19, 2011

    What a great alternative to banana bread! I could also see this with a chocolate cream cheese filling, or cinnamon… great idea!!

  • A Tablespoon of Liz
    February 19, 2011

    I’ve got a whole pile of bananas in my kitchen… i guess i know what i’ll be making when they start to turn!

  • Lauren
    February 19, 2011

    I love whoopie pies! Never made the banana variety, but they sound fantastic. How amazing would a peanut butter filling be?!

  • Sherry
    February 19, 2011

    I made banana whoopie pies with a peanut butter filling once, not that fabulous to me. I’d be willing to try it again though!

  • Tiffany
    February 20, 2011

    Is this batter very thick? I am a beginning baker and every time I have attempted to make Whoopies in a number of ways and they never turn out. I have put the batter in a pastry bag and also even bought whoopie pans and they have turned out either time.

  • pia
    February 20, 2011

    These are delicious. I tried them per the recipe, but then also tried brushing each side of the cakes with a bit of nutella, before putting on the cream cheese filling. Went down a treat with all the family.

  • Nicole
    February 20, 2011

    Tiffany – The batter is quite thick. You shouldn’t need a pastry bag to pipe or shape these. Maybe the recipe you tried before wasn’t a good one? Try your hand at these – and good luck!

  • Food Frenzy
    February 20, 2011

    Whoopie Pies seem to be the new things lately. But I haven’t seen banana ones yet and these look mighty good. Thanks for the recipe.

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  • Kristi Rimkus
    February 20, 2011

    What fun! Reminds me of when I was a kid and if we were lucky Mom would get us Whoopie Pies for a treat!

  • Tessa
    February 21, 2011

    We always have ripe bananas, and these are really cute! Love it!

  • The Capitol Baker
    February 22, 2011

    These look absolutely delicious!

  • Mary @ Delightful Bitefuls
    February 22, 2011

    This includes ALL my favs!

  • Julie
    March 6, 2011

    I made these last week and took them to an Oscar Party, they were a hit, I didn’t come home with any extras 🙁 Thank you!

  • Patsy
    May 28, 2011

    I will try these tomorrow and let you know how they turn out!

  • naomi
    November 6, 2011

    Just finished baking these. I can attest to the thick batter but they bake wonderfully! Really light and tasty cake. I used a peanut butter frosting, but I love this cake batter!

  • caryn
    November 9, 2011

    just made this and they taste amazing. but… i only had wax paper instead of parchment and my first batch stuck to it til i sprayed the second batch with Pam. is it bc of the paper i used? also, how do you get uniform shapes, some of mine are different!

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